Reese Witherspoon On What Matters Most

Reese Witherspoon, the 32-year-old Oscar-winner for 2005’s Walk the Line, is currently promoting her new movie, Four Christmases, a comedy about family ties co-starring Vince Vaughn. Reese recently sat down with Parade and discussed her own family values and the importance of raising her children with a sense of balance and structure.

On how she and ex-husband, Ryan Phillippe, co-parent their two children, Ava and Deacon: “My ex-husband is very involved in raising our beautiful children. We’re very lucky because we both grew up in working families in middle America. We’re on the same page that way. When we’re with our children, we’re very good about checking ourselves.”

On the values she hopes to teach her children: “I’m teaching the children what we were taught growing up—a real set of rules, discipline, and love. Children thrive with a sense of structure, and they’re frightened without it. The ways you behave, how you speak to other people—those things don’t leave you.”

On her worries about her children’s safety: “After my second baby, I was scared. It’s hard to protect your babies from the press and all the people out there wanting a part of you. It made me hibernate a little bit more. I got very ‘Mama Bear’ and protective. You give birth, and worry and guilt come with it. It’s a natural part of being a parent. But for me, the most difficult part is seeing my children being followed and harassed. They’ve been treated terribly. They were shouted at in their Halloween costumes, photographers screaming, ‘You don’t look scared!’ We used to take our daughter to a wonderful school, and she was so harassed that we had to take her out. I hope not to live in this place forever.”

Click below to read if Reese plans to marry again….

On the negative aspect of her success: “The biggest detriment of my life is tabloid fame. It removes me from people. When I first meet someone, it is so hard for me to overcome everything they’ve read about me. It’s not fair. It’s difficult, because I’m the kind of person who just wants to hug people.”

On if she has plans to marry again: “Family is all we have in life, but I don’t know how I feel about marriage. Obviously, I’m not far enough out of being married to think about doing it again. You sort of reconstitute your family. You find a family, with people who come into your life for a reason. I definitely still have a capacity to love. Someone said to me once, ‘No matter what breakup you went through or what new love you find—the love you remember, like the love you now value, is yours. Whatever love you once gave to somebody else, it doesn’t go away. Even if it is only remembered love, it belongs to you.’ Things change, but your ability to love remains intact. Oh, I have a lot of hope for love! I do!”